Caliper for determining the shape and diameter of well bores



June 15, 1954 M o JOHNSTON ETAL 2,680,913

CALIPE R F' OR DETERMINING THE SHAPE AND DIAMETER OF WELL BORES FiledAug. 10, 1951 IIIIIIIII M a: ma:

IN VEN TOR; Maw/a4 a ./0///V570/V JAM 4, MOOJ/VIN provide a well caliper-wardly urged caliper -strained against outward movement; Icyimpactthe - well Patented June 15, 1954 'Mordica 0. Johnston,

F Moosman L'os Angel .ELLBQEES Glendale, and Jack A.

es, Galiil, assignors, .by

mesne assignments. to Johnston- Testers} ma,

"H uston,:Tex.,-..a ..-corporation.

of Delaware .Application Angust 10, 1951,.Serial, No. 241,262

4 1 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an oilwelltooland particularly to a caliperfor determiningthe shape anddia-meterof well bores.

A main objectof the present invention Vis to having a plurality ofgutarms adapted to be reresponsive means which are responsive toanimpact to release the arms into engagement'with the walls of a wellbore.2w

for outward movement Anotherobject of 'the present-Linyention is toprovide a well caliper having a plurality of outwardly movableswinga-bly mounted caliper arms each of which is adaptedpendently.actuateja.stylus mounted en a key to se a y an ind memberwhich is 'guided' for longitudinal movement,the styluses being arranged;to make .s eparate records on a. suitable chart.

-A further object of the present invention is to; provide a wellcaliper; as described in the immediately above paragraph in which thereare impact responsive means for releasablyhjold- "me a ms in he i Wa nQitw s r s on iv to an impact to release th arm .pu wai' movement.

Various other objects will be apparent irom followingd s pt take ji .cgne t with the accompanying drawings in which:

"-- lf'ig.- 1 shows a, vertical mid-sectiori through a ent; inventionand shown w e. ca r. arm

thereof in retracted positions.

Fig; 2 is a horizontal section through thecaliper disclosed in Fig. 1taken along linef -'-2 o f Fig-. 1.

; Fig; 3 is a h orizontalsectio n through the caliper disclosed in-Fig;1 takenfalongline'3+3pf-1 fig 1. "Fig. 4 is a viewsi-rnilar to Fig. 1but showing the caliper arms as having been released and beinginengagement with-the walls-of a wellbore.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

-Wherein-similar reference characters designate similar partsthroughout; the well caliper "comprises a body generally; a plurality'of parts including a tubulargchart entitled '9- made up of l3 and alower'plug housing I I, an upper plug v connected together 4 5 allsuitably =threadedly as -shown; There ;is a wire line socket --l|threadedly received --by-plug -13 and locked in place by a check nut 19.-Body' 9 isadapted to be supported by a wire line 2| end thereofsuitably connected to the wire-line "so k it e $u 1 .fae rq having thelower i' i me on w ri l a a. denandinaakirt .Rbari a pluralif.flilicumierentially equally spaced notches therearound to receive aplual bq y e th congentsj fiii enr -the--wellbore.

leasably-locked- W --pair of sheer-pins 5? connecting cap--55 andwireline socket I1.

rality of hell crank sh are swingably mounted for radial movement thewalls A,

against the flange 37 to spacethe arms -21.

strained against allowing replacement of the 0 of ;the well caliper.

aped caliper arms 27 which about pivot pins 29 receivablein-dependingsegmer ts 28 formed by notches 25. The lowerends of armsfl',as the parts are depictedin -Fig. 1,

are rounded at SI; for proper engagement with shown in Fig. 4, definingthe well bore Supported from lower plug l5 by hanger bolts 33 is abullnose or guard'member'SE provided forthe purpose of protecting thecaliperarms during descent into a well bore. 'Ihe guard member *35 has aflange 31 iormedthereon spaced upwardly from the lower noseportionandcircumferentially slotted at equally spaced pioints thereaboutto receive the lower ends of caliper arms 21. Hanger bolts 33 have "thelower ends thereof reduced and threaded to receive nuts ;39,-the upperends of the hanger bolts being threadedly received by-dependingsegments-Q28 on plug 15. The reduction of the lower ends of hanger bolts-33 provide shoulders for bearing 7 H 1 uardfi at the proper distancefrom the-plug l5. Caliper arms -21 are spring-urged outwardly by tensionsprings 4| hooked at their lower e nds through apertures 43 in flangeside offlange 31 and connected at 31 onto-the under- 7 V their upperends to links--45 swingably' mounted orifpivot pins 41 provided on theupper ends of caliper The upper crank ends of caliper arms 21 areconnectedin a manner-tubedescribed to the chart mechanism for makingseparate records.

The outwardly urged caliperarmsZ'l are reoutward movement by a sleeve 5|telescopically received over body fi and urged upwardly-by a compressionspring 53 disposed in engagement with check nut 19 at one end and aicap55 at its other end,-said cap being threa dedly securedto sleeve 5! asshown-in-Fig. 1. Spring -53;therefore, urges sleeve-5i into a positionto uncover the surrounded caliper arms 21 and to-release the arms foroutwardradial movement into engagement withthe walls A defining-I-Iowever,- the sleeve- 5 I is I reagainst upwardmovement by. a

' Suitable ;set screws 59 are provided for retaining the .shearpins inplace and pins afterpperation Slee e .5 L adan e o be ele se ion upw rincrement, nd lijt influ n e, f pr n 5 in} a 0devi1 6| which is receivedover wireline 2| under the influence of tension springs M.

and dropped down the well into engagement with cap 55, the impactserving to shear pins to allow the upward releasing movement of sleeve5:. Upon upward movement of sleeve 5i, the caliper arms move outwardlyfrom the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 4 intoengagement with the walls A of the well bore and each caliper arm ismoved inwardly or outwardly, in accordance with the contour of thesurface which it encounters, independently and separately from the othercaliper arms, thereby indicating the different diameters of the wellbore.

As previously mentioned, the upper ends of caliper arms 21 areoperatively connected to a chart mechanism for making separate records.This arrangement is as follows: The upper ends of caliper arms 21 areconnected by links 65, which preferably form extensions of links 45, to

crossheads 6T slidably received within bore 59 provided in plug !5, saidcrossheads having pistons l'l slidably extending through the plug l5.There is suitable packing 13 disposed around pistons "J! and held inplace by packing glands 15.

Within tubular chart housing ll, is disposed a cylindrical chart support84 adapted to be constantly driven when the caliper is put in operationby a clock mechanism 83. Disposed about the chart support 531 andslidably fitting within and secured to housing H is a sleeve as havingthe interior surface thereof disposed in spaced relation to the exteriorsurface of the cylindrical chart support 8i so as not to interfere withthe rotation of the chart support. Sleeve has provided on the exteriorthereof a plurality of longitudinal circumferentially spaced keyways $9for the reception of the shanks 9| of a plurality of key members 93spring-urged downwardly by compression springs 95 contained between theupper ends of shanks 9| and the shoulders 91 formed on sleeve 85 at theupper terminals of keyways 89. The body portions of the key members areslidably received within downwardly opening clearance slots formed inthe lower end of sleeve 85 in registry with the keyways.

Each key member thereto and disposed chart supported on chart supportBl.

Compression springs 95 urge the key members as downwardly intoengagement with the upper ends of pistons H. Therefore, any movement, upor down, of pistons ll will serve to effect an equal movement of theparticular stylus carried by the key member engaging the movablepistons.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the individual styli are staggered withrelation to one another so that the records produced thereby do notoverlap.

The operation of the device is as follows: When it is desired to calipera well bore, the caliper may be lowered into the well to the locationwhich is desired to be calipered and a godevil 6! is dropped down thewire line to strike the cap 55 and release the sleeve 5| for upwardmovement under the influence of compression spring 53. Such upwardmovement releases the caliper arms 21 for outward radial movementOutward movement of caliper arms 21 results in an accompanying downwardmovement of pistons H and a following movement of key members 93carrying styli 99 along the interior of cylindrical chart support 8!.The outward movement of caliper arms 21 will be limited by their contact93 has a stylus 99 secured in a position to engage a the interior ofcylindrical with the walls defining the well bore and eventually by thengagement of the caliper arms 21 with the walls which define the obliqueupper ends of notches 25 in plug Hi. The caliper is then drawn upwardlythrough the well bore, each caliper arm moving inwardly or outwardly inaccordance with the contour of the surface which it engages, thereforemaking a plurality of separate individual recordings on the chartcarried by the cylindrical chart support 8!.

It may also be desirable to caliper the well all the way in and all theway out instead of merely lowering the caliper-into the well and thenwithdrawing the caliper. However, the normal use will be to lower thecaliper into the well and to release the caliper arms by dropping ago-devil down the wire line to effect the release of the caliper arms aspreviously described.

While we have shown the preferred form of our invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its construction by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A well caliper, comprising a caliper body adapted to be lowered intoa well on the lower end of a wire line, a plurality of outwardly urgedcaliper arms swingably mounted on the caliper body for movement frominward inoperative positions to outward operative positions, a sleevemovably carried by the body and surrounding the upper ends of the armsto retain them in their inward positions, and means located at the topof said body in the vicinity of the wire line for releasably connectingthe sleeve to the body in its arm retaining position, said means beingresponsive to the impact of a go-devil dropped down the wire line torelease the sleeve and permit arm releasing movement, and means normallybiasing said sleeve toward its arm releasing position whereby the armscan be released at any place along the well bore by positioning the bodyat such place and dropping a go-devil down the wire line. I

2. A well caliper, comprising a caliper body adapted to be lowered intoa well on the lower end of a wire line, a plurality of outwardly urgedcaliper arms swingably mounted on the caliper body for movement frominward inoperative positions to outward operative positions, a sleevemovably carried by the body and surrounding the upper end of the arms toretain them in their inward positions, spring means urging the sleeve ina direction to release the arms, and means located at the top of saidbody in the vicinity of the wire line for releasably connecting thesleeve to the body in its arm retaining position, said means beingresponsive to the impact of a go-devil dropped down the line to release"the sleeve,

whereby the arms can be released at any place along the well bore bypositioning the body at such place and dropping a go-devil down the wireline.

3. A well caliper, comprising a caliper adapted to be lowered into awell on the lower i end of a wire line, a plurality of outwardly urgedcaliper arms swingably mounted on the caliper 1 body for movement frominward inoperative posi- 7 tions to outward operative positions, asleeve movably carried by the body and surrounding the arms to retainthem in their inwardposibody ' tions, a cap at the top of the bodysecured to the sleeve and through which the wire line extends,

means normally biasing the sleeve toward its arm releasing position,means for holding the sleeve in its arm retaining position responsive tothe impact of a go-devil with the cap to release the sleeve for armreleasing movement, whereby the arms can be released at any place alongthe well bore by positioning the body at such place and dropping ago-devil down the Wire line.

4. A well caliper, comprising a caliper body adapted to be lowered intoa well on the lower 10 end of a wire line, a plurality of outwardlyurged caliper arms swingably mounted on the caliper body for movementfrom inward inoperative positions to outward operative positions, asleeve movably carried by the body and surrounding the arms to retainthem in their inward positions, a cap at the top of the body secured tothe sleeve and through which the wire line extends, spring means urgingthe sleeve in a direction to release the arms, and means for holding thesleeve in its arm retaining position, responsive to the impact of ago-devil with said cap to release the sleeve for arm releasing movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 713,784 Mellor Nov. 18, 1902 2,102,080 Kinley Dec. 14, 19372,267,110 Kinley et a1. Dec. 23, 1941 2,340,987 Robidoux Feb. 8, 19442,392,357 Bays Jan. 8, 1946 2,415,636 Johnson Feb. 11, 1947 2,497,990Huber et al Feb. 21, 1950 2,518,663 Chaney et al Aug, 15, 1950

